


you have the key I need to open this cage.

by harold



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fill, ziam, zianourry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 14:18:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/699168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harold/pseuds/harold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam's guarded at first, but then before he knows it he's got four little brothers and there's no space in the band for his walls.</p><p>Zayn is half asleep and Liam's there to take care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you have the key I need to open this cage.

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt fill for an anon on tumblr, where i first posted this, who basically just wanted cuddly ziam. 
> 
> Massive thank you Anna, my first ever beta. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

 The thing is, Liam is guarded. He’s not broken or homicidal or depressed or some dramatic shit like that, no. He's cautious, sensible, and thoughtful. It’s just how he is. How he’s always been.

  
He's learned from a young age to take care of himself in any ways he had to, how ever he could, and if that means he was short on friendships, so be it.  And okay, maybe he’s a little broken, maybe he was a sick little toddler, and maybe he got pushed around a bit as a kid, but he knows what to do now. He knows _how_ to protect himself, _when_ to protect himself, and what to protect himself from.

Guarded.

So singing is weird to him, because he’s used to protecting himself, used to keeping himself safe. Continuing to sing and then going back to the very same competition that broke his heart once already is out of character and just so, so unsafe. But the risk is worth it, thank god, because he can’t possibly imagine having to go through the pain again, having to consider giving up what he loves.

  
One Direction is even weirder for him, because it’s like taking every caution he’s ever kept and tossing it off the side of a boat. Liam doesn’t initially mesh. He’s usually just an observer, and maybe he laughs a bit, but the majority of the time he sits there and wonders if he looks as horrified as he feels. They’re just _there_  all the time. They’re always all over each other, laughing too loud, swearing too much, grabbing too low, and Liam just  _can’t_  be that way. It’s not how he is, and maybe it’s how he  _wants_  to be, but he  _isn’t_  and there’s not much he can do about it on his own.

  
That first stage is over pretty quickly though, not because he wants it to be, but because the others won’t have it, won’t let him be an observer in something they’re supposed to be doing together. Louis pinches him until he pinches back. Harry hugs him even if he doesn’t want it. Niall laughs at the things he says, listens for his quiet little mutters that no one is ever lucky enough to hear.

  
Zayn, well, he’s special. He’s just like Liam, at first. Neither is very ready for the way things work. They don’t really accept people as easily as the other three and they’re both very much low conversations and deep thoughts. But that’s where their similarities end, because once Zayn is really ready to trust, he dives right into it. While, at times, he’s as reserved as Liam, there’s also times when he’s worse than Louis, kissing and tackling and cuddling.

  
It takes a while, but Liam starts to really change for them. He truly loves and trusts these boys like family and he doesn’t really have anything to worry about as long as they’re around.

 

* * *

 

He’s still caught off guard, sometimes, like tonight. They’re all spectacularly exhausted. They've woken up at six for a day of interviews on top of a huge concert and nothing really stops until they get back to their hotel seventeen hours later.

  
They drag their feet down the hall, followed by Paul and Andy, who look as tired as they do. Niall and Harry literally collapse against the door of their room. Louis opens the door and their bodies head straight for the ground, the owners of said bodies too knackered to care. He nudges their feet just inside and locks the door. Louis waves a good night to Liam, who is just getting his own door open, hindered by his useless roommate.

  
Zayn is curled around Liam, head on his shoulder and arms around his waist, deciding that Liam makes a good enough pillow to sleep on. He’s got all his weight on Liam and his breathing is quiet and steady. The door is open already, but Liam’s thinking that if he moves, Zayn isn’t coming.

  
“Zayn,”

“Mmm?” he mumbles, bordering on consciousness.

“Zayn, are you awake?”

“Mmmmhhm…yeah,” Zayn replies in a way that says just the opposite.

“I need you to lift your feet.”  **  
**

  
So he does, except he’s lifting his entire leg in front of Liam and he holds it there, as if waiting for something.

 

And then Liam gets it.

  
“I’m not picking you up.”

“Yes you are,” Zayn speaks in a slow, tired voice.

“I’m not.”

“You _are_.”

  
Liam groans, giving up even more easily than usual because all he really cares about is going to bed as soon as possible. He lifts the leg Zayn is giving him, then reaches for his other, and carries him into the room like a bride on her wedding night. He lays Zayn gently on his bed, pulls off his shoes and throws them in the general direction of their suitcases. Zayn lazily lifts his arms, eyes still shut. Liam sighs, but pulls off his shirt anyway and leaves the sweat pants on that he'd changed into after the concert.

  
Liam changes too, putting on an old tee shirt and some shorts. He is just climbing into his own bed when Zayn’s sleep-drenched voice emerges.

  
“Come…cuddle with me…Li,”

  
Relatively, it’s not a weird request. It’s actually fairly tame compared to carrying Zayn into a hotel room and taking off his clothes, but every once in a while, Liam still finds himself caught between the way he used to be and the way he is now. He rolls over, barely able to see Zayn in the dark. The light in the hallway is still on and he can still see the outline of Zayn’s mattress, but not much else.

  
Once again, Liam gives in to Zayn’s wishes. He gets up, yawns, steps to Zayn’s bed, and gets under the covers. Zayn’s arms slither around him, pulling them together just as they were in the hallway. His legs wrap around Liam’s, who finally relaxes before turning on his side towards Zayn. He slides his own arm under and around Zayn’s neck, and brings the other arm across the pair of them.  He rests his chin on the crown of Zayn’s head and lets his eyes slip shut. Zayn shifts a bit and then Liam feels lips on his neck. It’s nothing new, but Liam finds himself holding Zayn closer.

  
Liam rolls onto his back again, but now, Zayn’s attached to him, so he follows when Liam moves, ending up on top of him. Zayn pulls his arms out from underneath Liam, because broken arms are not fun to wake up to, and drops them wherever they happen to land. His face is still fit into Liam’s neck and now one of his arms is coming up, circling Liam’s head.  
Liam drags his fingers along Zayn’s back, which his arm is still wrapped around, and feels the minuature hills and valleys created by his spine.

  
“…tickles,” Zayn mumbles, tugging at a piece of Liam’s short hair. Liam stops, opening his hand flat against Zayn’s back.

  
“Li…’m tired.” Zayn says, lifting his head so that his whispers are directed at Liam’s ear.

  
“So go to sleep.”

  
Zayn apparently finds the logic in this, because he puts his head back down, muttering noncommittally.

  
“I love you, Liam,” Zayn mumbles into his neck, just audible.

  
“I love you too, Zayn.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. I’ve never posted ziam before so I’m interested in seeing how this goes. I made up the title because I couldn’t come up with anything. It’s a metaphor. xx


End file.
